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Movie Review – Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Had to take a little break on writing up these reviews for the holidays, but I’m back with the last three films. Now let’s continue with episode six, Return of the Jedi.

Return of the Jedi does a good job of wrapping up this trilogy and giving the viewers closure on the story. I don’t think this one was as strong as The Empire Strikes Back, but I think I enjoyed it more than I enjoyed A New Hope.
Now, let’s take a closer look at Return of the Jedi.

[IF THERE IS EVEN THE SLIGHTEST POSSIBILITY THAT YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THESE FILMS YET THEN BE WARNED THERE WILL BE SPOILERS BELOW]

Pros

Okay, puppet Jabba looked a lot better than the CGI Jabba did in The Phantom Menace.

While I hate slave Leia, I adore Leia choking Jabba to death. That was quite satisfying to watch.

I both loved and laughed when Yoda basically told Luke, “Don’t be easy to manipulate like your father was.” So good.

One thing that I enjoyed about all of these movies was the dynamic between Leia and Luke. I just felt that Luke always felt a strong connection to Leia and sure at first he thought it was a romantic connection, but as time passed he put the pieces together and realized it was a familial connection. I’m sure it helped that Yoda told him there was another Skywalker and that Obi-Wan tells him he as a sister, but my point still stands that he always felt close to her, it was just that he was never sure why until this movie.

I like the sequence of all the different places celebrating the fall of the Empire.

Cons

Slave Leia is so damn disgusting to me and I hate it with a fiery passion.

What was the point of the performance at Jabba’s? I can tell you, there was no point. It was a waste of time that could have been better spent on something else.

Jabba’s security sucks if Leia and Lando were able to get in without anyone questioning anything.

Why didn’t Luke bring his lightsaber with him? I get that it was apparently in R2-D2, but how did Luke think that was a good idea? That makes no sense to me.

Okay, I may get some hate for this, but I do not understand what is so special about Boba Fett. I mean, what did he do in these movies to be so beloved by the fandom? I just don’t see how he is this supposed badass. I honestly don’t remember much about him from these movies, except him taking Han to Jabba and the stupid way they killed him. To me, he’s actually quite a forgettable character.

Why is Leia so easily accepted by the Ewoks, but the others are brought back to their camp as food? Also where did they get an outfit that would fit Leia?

The scene with the Ewoks wanting to roast Han, Luke, and Chewie ran a bit long, plus was the scene where 3PO is telling the Ewoks their story really necessary?

How does Leia have any recollection of Padme? Does it have something to do with her force sensitivity or is that just a plot hole?….Probably a plot hole.

I don’t understand why Leia just didn’t tell Han what happened? Was she afraid of his reaction or is she still trying to process everything? They gave no indication why Leia couldn’t tell him and that caused unneeded tension.

It’s a little jarring for them to cut between the battle on with the Ewoks, the battle in the sky, and Luke talking with the Emperor and Vader. It just didn’t flow that well to me. The action scenes were solid, but then cutting to the Emperor and Luke talking just kind of halted everything. Didn’t like it that much.

While the final battle sequence, both with the Ewoks and in the sky, were done really well, I didn’t really care about them that much. I just found myself wanting the story to stay with the Emperor and Luke. I was more interested in that story than the actual battle.

Okay, Leia just explaining to Han that Luke is her brother doesn’t really help anything because you know he flashbacked to when Leia kissed Luke on Hoth.

I’m not a fan of them changing Anakin’s force ghost from the original actor to Hayden Christensen. Nothing against Hayden, but Luke sees Obi-Wan and Yoda as how he knew them, so it’s only natural he’d see Anakin like how he’d seen him, not like Hayden.

Side Note:

Why are the singers at Jabba’s place CGI, but mostly everyone else are puppets or people in costume?

So, was Leia and Han getting captured part of the plan or did Leia just mess up and got caught? Also where was Lando during all of this?

Okay, if everything that happened went according to Luke’s plan, then this was a very elaborate plan.

I found it interesting how accepting Leia was of Luke telling her that not only is Luke her brother, but that Vader is her father as well and she’s probably force sensitive.

I also don’t get why they kept having Leia change her clothes between her original outfit and the one the Ewoks apparently gave her. Made no sense to me.

So all you have to do to turn Vader is threaten someone he loves/cares about? In the prequels, Padme was in danger so he turned to the dark side and in this one Luke is in danger so he turns back to the light. Not really a complaint, just an interesting character trait.

In Conclusion

While there were a few things that story wise didn’t make a lot of sense to me, I still overall really enjoyed Return of the Jedi. Like I said above this film does it’s job of wrapping up this trilogy by giving the viewer a well done conclusion that is both satisfying and entertaining.